The Background page provides general information on the content of the Treaties Database. It describes the kind of treaties deposited with the Director General of FAO.

On the Home page, it is possible to search for specific instruments by inserting relevant search terms (which could include the acronym of the relevant treaty, or its subject) in the Free text search box. It is also possible to browse the following lists:

• Treaties under FAO framework: provides a list of Multilateral treaties approved under Article XIV of the FAO Constitution, under which the FAO Conference may approve and submit to Member Nations conventions and agreements concerning questions related to food and agriculture.
• Treaties outside FAO framework:  provides a list of Multilateral treaties which are developed and operate outside the framework of FAO, where the Contracting Parties have requested the Director-General of FAO to discharge the Depositary functions.
• Circular State Letters: provides a list of Circular State Letters, by which the Depositary notifies concerned countries and regional economic integration organizations of treaty actions, such as the deposit of an instrument of accession to a treaty by a State.
• ITPGRFA Agreements: provides a list of the bilateral agreements concluded with International Agricultural Research Centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and other International Institutions, pursuant to Article 15 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture concerning ex situ collections of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

Each list of records – whether generated by a free text or advanced search, or by browsing – can be sorted by relevance or by date (entry into force in the case of treaties and date of issuance for Circular State Letters). The retrieved results can be filtered using the facets displayed on the right bar (e.g. subject matter, participants, date).

For each treaty, clicking on the title opens its “record”, providing an overview of its status and other information, as well as a link to its text. Clicking on the title of a CSL opens its “record”, which includes a link to its text.

If a treaty has a specific geographical scope of application  (e.g. in the case of some participants that have overseas territories), this is shown by a footnote indicator next to the name of the participant concerned; hovering of this indicator will open a pop up note with the relevant information.

Declarations or reservations made upon adherence to a treaty are listed below the table of participants.

Clicking on a participant’s name displayed in the list, opens its status page, listing all the treaties it has adhered to and CSLs issued in respect of its treaty actions.

In the status page:

• Clicking on the name of a treaty or CSL then opens the record for the treaty or CSL.
• Clicking on the flag next to a participant’s name opens its FAO country profile.

If a treaty has a specific geographical scope of application (e.g. in the case of some participants that have overseas territories), you need to open the treaty record by clicking on its name. If there is a specific scope of application, this is shown by a footnote indicator next to the name of the participant concerned; hovering of this indicator will open a pop up note with the relevant information.

If a participant made a declaration or reservation upon adherence to a treaty, you need to open the treaty record by clicking on its name. All declarations and reservations are listed below the table of participants.

The Advanced Search allows you to enter various parameters to search across the Database (for treaties and/or Circular State Letters and/or ITPGRFA Art. 15 Agreements).

By default, searches will be across all four types of instrument. You can choose to search only in treaties or CSLs or ITPGRFA Art. 15 Agreements by ticking the relevant box next to “Type of instruments”.

To search for all the treaties adopted within a particular time span, select “Treaties” under “Type of instruments”, and then enter the relevant years in the field “Year of adoption”. 

It is possible to search for words included within the text of a treaty by using the “Free text search” box.

If terms are entered in multiple fields (for example, a search on place of adoption, a particular participant and words from the title of the treaty), they are connected by “AND” by default and the resulting list will reflect only those entries that match all the fields entered. 

Pages with retrieved results or details of a record can be printed and saved as any other web page.

For more guidance, please send an email to [email protected]